Around 6 a.m. local time Sunday, several people called 911 to report an active shooter at Greenwood Park Mall, Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison told reporters.
Investigators believe the unidentified gunman, an adult male, was shot dead by a legally armed 22-year-old man who “observed the ongoing shooting,” Ison said.
The injured or dead include a man and four women, including a 12-year-old girl, whose parents took her to a hospital with minor injuries after the shooting, the chief said.
The second injured victim was hospitalized and in stable condition Sunday evening, Ison said.
“This has shaken us to the core. This is not something we would have seen before here in Greenwood. It is absolutely horrible and our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones injured tonight,” the police chief said.
The Greenwood police department has trained for a mass shooting scenario and has conducted “multiple mall exercises” to prepare for active shooter situations, he said.
“But I’ll tell you that the real hero of the day is the citizen who was legally carrying a firearm in that eating yard and was able to stop that shooter almost as soon as he started,” Ison said.
It is rare for an armed spectator to attack an active shooter, according to a data analysis published by The New York Times.
According to the data analysis, there were at least 433 active sniper attacks in the U.S. between 2000 and 2021. Active sniper attacks were defined as those in which one or more snipers killed or attempted to kill several unrelated people in a populated place.
Of those 433 active shooter cases, an armed spectator shot the attacker in 22 of the incidents. In 10 of them, the “good guy” was a security guard or an off-duty police officer, the Times reported.
And having more than one person armed at the scene who is not a member of law enforcement can create confusion and pose serious risks, according to the report. For example, an armed spectator who shot and killed an attacker in 2021 in Arvada, Colorado, was shot by police who mistaken him for the gunman, the Times reported.
In the shooting at the Greenwood Mall, it appears the gunman used a long pistol rifle, Ison said, although law enforcement had not immediately recovered any weapons from the scene.
Olivia Harding said she was in the Old Navy at the mall when she and her mother heard four gunshots and thought the nearby carousel was breaking.
“The next thing you know, you hear six more shots and you see everyone running,” Harding told CNN affiliate WISH. Harding said he does not believe he will return to a mall “for a long time.” There have been 350 mass shootings this year, according to Gun Violence Archive. Like CNN, the archive defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter. The community now joins a host of others who are also struggling with the aftermath of the mass shootings, including communities wrapped up in recent massacres at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a fourth parade. July in Highland Park, Illinois.
SWAT teams cleaned up the mall and determined there were no additional threats to the building, Ison said.
Police are still investigating the shooter’s cell phone and interrogating people who were inside the mall at the time. Police are asking all witnesses to contact authorities.
Several agencies responded to the scene to help, including the FBI, the ATF, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department and the Department of Homeland Security, Ison said.
Police cleaned a backpack that was found at the scene and found no explosive devices, Ison said.
“This tragedy reaches the core of our community,” Greenwood Mayor Mark Meyers said in a Facebook post. “Please offer your prayers to the victims and our first perpetrators.”
On Sunday evening, Meyers also thanked the person who fatally shot the gunman during the attack.
“This person has saved lives tonight,” the mayor said in another statement. “On behalf of Greenwood City Council, I am grateful for your prompt action and heroism in this situation.”